Photo Dump: Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to play this so bad

What a ride. Time for the Cyberpunk tabletop games?

Made some 8-hour beef wanton ramen. It was a 4/10. We'll get them next time!

Persona 

I've been playing this video game series by Studio Atlus called Shin Megami Tensei: Persona. So far the series has 5 main games and I can say without a doubt it's one of the best games I've played in ages in terms of JRPGs. 

At the moment, I've only finished Persona 4: Golden on the PlayStation Vita and have started Persona 5: Royal on the PS4. I plan to play Persona 3 next on the Vita, but each day that passes, it seems I have less and less time to play :( All I can say, the soundtrack for all the games are so good, I time to time add them to my music playlists.

I didn't realize how big the Persona community was until recent and I'm glad to be apart of it now. it's hilarious to see the Persona meme's on reddit and twitter now that I have some familiarity to Persona. 

I feel like 13 year old me again playing these games, just getting lost in the stories and worlds. The game's characters and massages are relatable too, having to deal with themes of acceptance of death, acceptance of self, moving on in life, making and losing friends/loved ones, etc.

There's a few things in life I wish to forget about to experience for the first time again and playing this series would be one of them. 

Thank You, Atlus for making a rad game.

Persona 4: Golden on PSVita

Persona 3 meme lol

10 hour Miso Ramen - Making Mistakes to Get Better 

A few weeks back, I decided to make miso ramen for my coworkers to try and critique so I can be a better ramen maker. As a hobbyist making it for friends with different years of experience and training levels in the food industry, it was an honor to have them taste it.

So like previous ramen recipes I've used before (Tokyo shoyu, tonkotsu, & shio), I used Mike Satinover's reddit recipe for the ramen (click here for recipe!). The hardest part about this ramen was the tare (seasoning sauce). How the pros put it, the tare for miso ramen breaks or makes it. If done wrong, it ends up being a glorified bowl of miso soup. If done right, it becomes a godly bowl of miso ramen (obviously).

Of course being the first time making miso ramen, there were issues such as lack of depth and acidity to the ramen soup when the tare, aroma oil and broth were combined.

After some nights of further researching and having my friends, family and coworkers taste test my ramen, it was eventually remedied, but it could've been done better for future batches. 

In terms of adding more depth, instead of pouring the hot broth over the tare and aroma oil, I've decided to stir fry some ground pork and aromatic vegetables with the tare and aroma oil and deglazed the wok with the broth.

Even then something was still missing. The soup was indeed good, but it didn't hit all the taste buds. It didn't give that taste-smell connection and then it hit me. Yes, the soup had some form of fat and salt in it, but what about acidity? So with that in mind, I added some rice vinegar and titrated it until that connection was made and holy shit, it worked.

One minor issue that my coworker brought up was that, though the soup was very savory and good, the taste of umami and maximum depth of taste was lacking. She recommended I roast the bones and aromatics next time to give that extra "oomph". Salamat po, Esther, for that advice. I will be sure to keep that in mind next time!

Overall, the miso ramen was well received and I wished I had made more to feed all my coworkers. I dream about having a midnight ramen shop, but I'm nowhere near perfect to do so.

Maybe I should stop dreaming about silly things like that.

Prince, I Miss You.

I had a border collie named Prince. My best friend gave him to me a few years back and I loved him ever since.

His favorite thing to do was run in open grass and eat things he wasn't supposed to.

I spoke to him everyday when I got home from school, work or anything really. He was there when no one else was. Before, I felt like I was the loneliest person in the world, but when he came into my life, everything felt okay.

My favorite memory of him was when we were out for a walk one night. A few blocks from home, we encountered a huge stray dog, bigger than Prince. They were nose to nose with each other, tails pointed up and both as stiff as taxidermy.

I didn't know what to do. Animal control was not in service and it seemed like a trivial thing to call 911 about. The best I could do was prepare for the worse. Before I knew it, Prince as fast as a fencer's lunge, bit the dog's nose and it squealed and ran away into the alleyway. He looked at me with the happiest face ever and wagged his tail gleefully, as if nothing happened. 

My biggest regret is that I never took much pictures of him or of our time together.

I had planned to take him to Prescott, Arizona because I heard that month was when the grass fields were as green as ever with mountains and forest trees in the background, like it was a scene from The Sound of Music. I could imagine him running about for hours on end. 

He passed away on November 2nd, 2017, due to medical complications. 

We were suppose to go to Prescott together that week, but it never happened. The following months felt so cold and lonely like it used to be. I don't think I can get another dog for awhile.

Like many other people and things in my life that I care about, when I think of him, I just want to keep moving forward. My time with him is over now, but he will always have a part of my soul tucked away that no else can have.

Prince, I miss you. I hope you're running in green fields forever.

 Photo Dump - October 1-4, 2020

Been trying to wean myself off of caffeine. Tea and water comes in clutch.

Thinking about selling my Romy AKM for a hand gun or a carbine

Scope view

This sick ass 80 series Landcruiser at my Godfather's auto shop. My dream car.